Why do people hate the ACLU so much?

I know this thread will probably be locked within the hour, but it's something I've always wondered. Got an email from a reader today about I "probably support the ACLU!" as if I'm supposed to be insulted.

I'm politically moderate, and usually it seems that when I hear the ACLU or its right-wing equivalents brought up, it's not in the context of reasoned discussions about what a person's problems with the organizations actually are, but instead used as catch-all rhetoric.
So why the hatred for the ACLU?

Because defending civil liberties often requires you to take unpopular stances. After all, it usually ain't some nice grandma who is getting her rights stomped upon...it's a marginalized person, like a suspected terrorist. And you've got to protect the suspected terrorists, because it's a slippery slope to some nice grandma losing her rights.
Lots of dipshits demonize the ACLU, but when the chips are down for them, they run to the organization. The ACLU was fighting for the rights of that drug addict Rush Limbaugh, when he was being prosecuted in Florida. They helped that yawing asshole Sean Hannity after he got bounced by a radio station years ago.

All of the above, plus they take a very literal approach to the law, which means fighting things like manger scenes in the public park at Christmastime, which makes some people believe they are being petty.

What I find interesting is that the ACLU and the NRA are both organizations dedicating to protecting one of the amendments to the Constitution....and there's such a disconnect in how the organizations are perceived politically. If the ACLU would invite Hillary Clinton to speak at their convention and tell her she had a shot at getting their endorsement, she would probably say "Gee, that's nice. But I made a commitment to speak to the American Association of Window Washers that same weekend. Sorry."
But if the NRA posed the same thing to John McCain...well, they would break out the champagne at his HQ. Hell, if the NRA told Hillary, that they weren't going to tell people to vote against her, they would start partying at her HQ.

What I find interesting is that the ACLU and the NRA are both organizations dedicating to protecting one of the amendments to the Constitution....and there's such a disconnect in how the organizations are perceived politically. If the ACLU would invite Hillary Clinton to speak at their convention and tell her she had a shot at getting their endorsement, she would probably say "Gee, that's nice. But I made a commitment to speak to the American Association of Window Washers that same weekend. Sorry."
But if the NRA posed the same thing to John McCain...well, they would break out the champagne at his HQ. Hell, if the NRA told Hillary, that they weren't going to tell people to vote against her, they would start partying at her HQ.

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Actually, the ACLU is dedicated to defending the entire Bill of Rights. It just disagrees with the NRA's absolutist stance on Amendment II -- which, it should be pointed out, is a position it holds in common with all the relevant Supreme Court decisions. d

There's some vestigial antisemitism and anti-elitist and anti-Red sentiment out there, too. The early CLB and ACLU grew up out of the Palmer raids and defended a lot of labor progressives and socialists and communists and anarchists when it was unheard of to do so.

1. Their anti-Christian agenda. The "separation of church and state" as they know it, or want everyone else to know it, doesn't exists in the Constitution. Try to find it. It's not there. The Constitution merely prohibits the establishment of a state-sanctioned religion. There's not a damn thing it it that prevents some small town from having a manger scene on the courthouse lawn. However, the ACLU has scared the crap out of most municipalities and goverment agencies and schools.

2. Their fervent support of the Bill of Rights except No. 2 -- the right to bear arms. If they're so eager to support unpopular situations such as Nazis having the right to march, what the hell is their problem in supporting this?

There's an inconsistency and hypocrisy that rubs people the wrong way. My two cents.